


When I'm with You I'm at Home

by Raynne



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Happy Ending, M/M, Misunderstandings, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2018-12-01 03:56:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11478111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raynne/pseuds/Raynne
Summary: Sometimes knowing another person too well can lead to just as many problems as not knowing them at all. Nora and Ren both think they know what the other one is thinking, but they couldn't be more wrong. Nora is sad, Ren is jealous, Neptune is confused, and Yang doesn't know how she ended up in the middle of this whole mess.





	1. Let's Just Dream

Everything had a breaking point. Nora Valkyrie knew that better than most. She also knew that sometimes when you were very lucky, you could control the break. Much like the act of trimming a branch before it became too heavy or scoring glass to fracture at a selected point – sometimes the shatter could be contained and turned to something good. Or at least, something that wouldn’t cost more than you could afford to pay.

 

It was with this in mind that two weeks after their arrival in Mistral Nora turned herself to the task of breaking her own heart.

 

After the moments on the airship and later in Jaune’s room with Ren’s hand resting on her shoulder, she thought that perhaps they’d turned a corner. That Ren had finally realized how she felt and was ready to return her feelings. However, after nothing else had happened in either gesture or word, she realized that it had all been in her own head. The battle against the Nuckelavee in Kuroyuri, and their ultimate victory, had been taxing for Ren in a way few things were. Of course he’d turned to her to share his triumph, to receive comfort, to share the mix of despair and jubilation. After all, they’d shared everything for over two thirds of their lives. It was her own problem if she’d made it out to be more.

 

It was in a moment of clarity during the early hours of morning that she realized if she kept holding on to the idea of them being more than friends, she jeopardized everything else they had between them. Ren might not look to her as a lover, but he was her best friend, her family, her partner, and her soul-mate. The risk of losing Ren entirely was far more painful to entertain than giving up what, ultimately, had been nothing more than a dream. She was aware that the result of pushing for something he didn’t want to give, or pining after him endlessly, would do irreparable damage to the bond between them. Given the choice between a broken heart or shattering her soul, the choice didn’t seem hard at all.

 

As the first fingers of early morning sun poured into their room in the inn, painting everything in shades of gray with only the faintest hints of color, she allowed herself the indulgence of gazing at Ren lying still asleep in his bed for an endless moment. His face was mostly buried in his bedding, blankets pulled up over one shoulder, with a single bare arm wrapped under his pillow, holding it snug to his face. He slept, as always, on his stomach, and his hair had wrapped itself over his head in such a way that between hair and pillow, only the tip of his nose and his chin stuck out. Nora always thought it looked suffocating, but he’d slept that way as long as she could remember – it was almost as if he hoped he could bury himself far enough into the bed that no one would make him get up. It rarely worked, especially as Nora was an early riser who woke up voraciously hungry and was garbage in the kitchen, but it didn’t stop him from trying.

 

Reaching out one tentative finger, she tapped the exposed tip of his nose gently, “Boop.”

 

“Mmpphh,” Ren shifted restlessly, turning just enough to expose one magenta eye that reluctantly opened half-way. “Nora?” His voice was questioning and still rough with sleep.

 

“Go back to sleep, Renny!” Nora chirped. “I’m going to head out for a run and then go grab some breakfast.”

 

“Want… ‘ompany?” Ren mumbled, already reburying himself, though Nora knew he’d start the extraction process if she asked.

 

“Nope, I’m good! No plans today, so I’ll see you when I see you! Don’t rush!”

 

“Kay.”

 

Nora quickly grabbed the bag she’d already stocked with clean clothing and bath supplies for after her run, slung it over her shoulder, and let herself out of the room.

 

In the hall outside of the room, Nora leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she focused on her dream of being in love with Ren, picturing it as a large, pink heart. With small but ruthlessly strong hands she snapped it in two and left it on the floor.

 

Making sure her pack was secure on her back, she set off down the hall at a jog, heading for the doors that led outside into Mistral. If her chest ached or her eyes watered, she ignored it and told herself it was dust in the air and they should really check the air filters in the inn.  


* * *

 

 

“Oh my god, you really exploded.”

 

Nora entered the hall that led to the common room several hours later after her shower and run, just in time to hear a familiar voice finishing what was obviously a story. A loud round of laughter followed the proclamation.  Nora’s feet sped up almost against her will and she rounded the corner at a run. Sure enough, sitting on a couch near the fireplace, surrounded by a group of familiar faces, sat …

 

“Fireball!” Nora’s shout had heads swiveling throughout the inn.

 

“Lightning Bolt!” Yang jumped to her feet as Nora ran faster across the floor, launching herself into the air as soon as she was close enough for Yang to catch her. The taller girl took her weight easily and spun Nora around, both laughing breathlessly before Yang deposited her back on her feet.

 

“When did you get here? How did you get here? How long have you been here? Why didn’t you tell us you were coming?” Nora fired off the questions rapidly, not pausing for her friend to respond or to breath. “I’ve missed you so much! This has been the craziest nine months of my life, and that’s saying a lot! I can’t believe you’re here! How long are you staying? Are you going to make Ruby go back home? I hope you don’t, she’s been….”

 

“Woah, slow down there, short-stack.” Yang held up a hand, laughing.

 

“Yeah, give her a chance to answer one question before you ask another,” Qrow added, also chuckling. “How much sugar have you had this morning, Nora? No, don’t answer that. You should say hello to the rest of your friends here too.”

 

With a concerted effort, Nora stopped the questions that were still dying to tumble from her brain and into her mouth to look around at the group. Yang was standing before an empty spot on one of the inn’s couches, obviously vacated when she saw Nora arrive. Seated beside Yang’s vacated cushion was a tall, dark-skinned young man with golden eyes and green hair. In a large chair perpendicular to the couch, a familiar blue-haired boy sat, laughter in his eyes and a smile on his lips. Perched on the arm of his chair was a redhead - green-eyes sparkling and a jacket draped over one shoulder. Qrow sat in another chair opposite them, long-legs extended before him, one foot propped on a coffee table, and Oscar, the newest member of their little party, was sitting on a wooden stool he’d obviously pulled over from one of the nearby tables. The couch and chairs made a pseudo U shape, facing the inn’s sole fireplace which was not lit currently as the day was warm and the light streaming in from the windows was bright.

 

“Neptune! Sage! Scarlet!” Nora bounced on her toes in excitement, hands clasped together in front of her. “It’s great to see you! What are you doing here?!?!”

 

“We live here.” Sage said solemnly.

 

“He doesn’t mean here-here.” Scarlet chimed in. “Not like in the inn, here. But here. Mistral.”

 

“We heard you were in town, so we thought we’d stop by, and we just happened to get here right after Yang,” Neptune finished.

 

“But where’s Sun?”

 

“Ahem, he’s… um, … well, to be honest, we’re not quite sure.” Neptune rubbed the back of his head and looked off to the side.

 

“He ran off chasing pussy,” Scarlet smirked.

 

“Scarlet.” Sage’s voice was scolding.

 

“He went after Blake.” Yang stated dryly, settling back down on the couch.

 

“That’s what I said!” Scarlet insisted. “Blake’s a cat faunus, right?”

 

There was a collective series of groans from the group.

 

“Anyway…” Neptune drawled, shooting Scarlet a look from the corner of his eyes, “it’s good to see you, Nora.”

 

“Where are Jaune and Ruby?” Nora asked as she noticed her two friends missing from the gathering.

 

“They went to the skydocks to see if any news came in with the last airship,” Qrow explained. “They made plans to go last night and Jaune thought it was still important.”

 

“I decided to stay here,” Yang added. “After what happened at the Vytal Festival, I’m still not the most popular person some places in Mistral.”

 

“We know that was all bullshit,” Neptune exclaimed.

 

“Unfortunately, not everyone feels we’re the most reliable of witnesses,” Scarlet rolled his eyes. “It seems we have a bit of a ‘reputation’.”

 

“Yeah, just my luck to get saddled with a bunch of losers like you guys,” Sage quipped. “My reputation was sterling before I teamed up with you.”

 

“Oh, we’re the losers,” Scarlet sneered. “I seem to remember you got knocked out of the match in about twenty seconds.”

 

“We said we weren’t going to talk about that!”

 

“Well if the shoe fits….”

 

“C’mon guys,” Neptune interrupted the escalating argument. “Not in front of the cute girls! Stay cool!” He flashed Nora a grin.

 

Nora laughed, “Don’t stop on my account. I need to go find some breakfast.”

 

“I’ll come with you,” Yang said hopping up. “We’ll leave you boys to fight it out amongst yourselves.” She winked at the group and joined Nora heading towards the dining area.

 

“Looking for some pancakes?”

 

“Nah, just planning to see if they have some fruit or something.” Nora sighed. Reaching into her backpack she pulled out a small pad of paper and a pen she’d snagged from one of the end tables in her room earlier and added a hash mark to the page. There were already several on the paper.

 

“What’s that?” Yang asked curiously.

 

“Re… um, someone suggested that if you want to accomplish something, it’s good to keep track of your progress,” Nora explained cheerfully, pausing briefly to make another hash mark. “I’m trying to stop thinking about something, so every time I do, I make a mark! Then, tomorrow, I can try to make less marks, and less the day after that and so on….”

 

“Someone, huh?” Yang said skeptically.

 

“Yup! So, anyway, are you going to tell me how you got here and what you’ve been up to for the last half a year since we snagged Rubes?”

 

Yang eagerly launched into the story of training with Taiyang, learning to use her new arm (“SO COOL!!! CAN I TOUCH IT?”), booking passage from Vale to Mistral, and then riding Bumblebee from the coast to the city (“I especially liked all the modifications you guys made to the signs… heh.”) While Yang talked, Nora flagged down a waitress and managed to talk her into providing a couple of pieces of fruit and a cup of coffee (doctored with syrup and milk) that Nora could carry back to their other friends. By the time the errand was complete and they rejoined the group, Yang was finishing up her story.

 

Yang flopped back down on the couch and Nora eyed the others trying to figure out where to sit. Surprisingly, it was Neptune who picked up on her quandary.

 

“Hey, you can sit next to me! This is a big chair!” Shooting out an elbow, he knocked Scarlet off the arm of his seat and onto the floor.

 

“What the hell!” Scarlet shrieked as he tumbled down. “Dude, not cool!”

 

“Oh, like you wouldn’t have done it to me if there was a girl available to sit with you instead,” Neptune smirked.

 

Scarlet rolled his eyes and blew out a huff of air up through his bangs, “Fine. But now where am I supposed to sit?”

 

Neptune shrugged and scooted over in the large chair. He patted the spot next to him and Nora plopped down laughing. “I could have just brought over another stool like Oscar, you know?” She sat her coffee down on the small table beside the chair and took a large bite out of her apple. Scarlet was still muttering darkly under his breath from his new spot on the floor.

 

“Oh, stop complaining,” Sage said sternly. Bending over he scooped Scarlet off the floor and sat back down with Scarlet on his lap. “There, now you have somewhere to sit!”

 

Scarlet sputtered, his face turning almost as red as his hair, while Yang laughed.

 

“Oh my god, you guys are so cute! I didn’t realize you were ‘ _partners’_ ,” her emphasis was heavy on the word which was drawn out into a drawl. The air quotes didn’t help either.

 

“Goddamnit!!” Scarlet screeched, hopping up. “I hate you Sage. And I hate you too, Neptune. I should have gone with Sun!”

 

“Yeah, yeah, you know you like it,” Neptune laughed. Scarlet glared at him and stomped over to a nearby table to grab a stool.

 

“If by like, you mean, ‘daydream about killing you all while you sleep’, you’re absolutely right.”

 

“It’s good to know you’re dreaming about me, Scarlet,” Sage smirked. “I guess that means we’re on for Saturday?”

 

Scarlet’s face turned redder, but he muttered, “You know we are,” before turning away and studiously picking at a button on his jacket.

 

“Ah, young love…” Qrow sighed. “Well, as much as I’d like to stay and watch this drama unfold, Oscar and I have some business it’s about time we attended to at Haven. We’ll see you kids later!” Qrow stood up and stretched before glancing at Oscar who obediently hopped off his stool.

 

“Yeah, I guess it’s time to go. I’ll see you later. It was nice to meet you, Scarlet, Sage, Neptune, Yang,” Oscar nodded at each person in turn.

 

Qrow pulled out his flask and took a deep swig before shaking it with a slight frown then putting it back in a pocket. “C’mon pipsqueak, let’s go.”

 

The group was quiet for a moment as they followed Qrow and Oscar’s progress from the seating area to the front door. More sunlight streamed into the already bright room from the door for a moment, then disappeared again as the door swung shut behind the pair.

 

Scarlet walked over to Qrow’s recently vacated chair and flung himself into the seat, back against one arm, legs slung over the other, and settled his hands behind his head.

 

“What are you guys up to while you’re here?” he asked curiously, crossing one leg over the other and idly kicking one foot in the air while the other braced on the arm of the chair.

 

“Oh,” Nora hesitated, not sure how much of their mission Qrow would want to reveal. “I think Qrow wants to meet with a few people at Haven.”

 

Neptune nodded. “That makes sense, without Professor Ozpin around and that dragon frozen on top of the tower, they probably need to talk to the other Headmasters to figure out what to do with all the students from Beacon. Maybe you guys can start coming to Haven with us!” He winked at Nora and slung an arm around the back of the chair behind her shoulders. “Haven could stand a little new blood.”

 

“In other words, some girls who haven’t already shot Neptune down,” Sage added.

 

Neptune grinned at Sage, “Girls don’t shoot me down.”

 

“He’s right,” Scarlet sighed. “For whatever reason, the female populace seems to find his cheesy lines, obviously dyed hair, lack of dancing skill, and inexplicable fear of water to be attractive.”

 

“He is pretty cute,” Yang laughed. “Have you heard about the adorable way he clung to my arm when we had to go to Junior’s nightclub looking for information?”

 

“No!” Sage leaned towards Yang looking delighted. “Please, share!”

 

Yang launched into the story, starting from when Sun and Neptune crashed into team RWBY’s dorm room while Neptune protested and was shushed by his teammates.

 

Nora finished her apple and started in on the orange, letting the conversation flow around her, oblivious to the concerned looks Yang was shooting her way. She would have rather have had pancakes or maybe waffles, but right now they reminded her too strongly of Ren. She idly wondered where he was right now and when he was going to join them. With a small sigh, she pulled out her notepad and made another hash mark. Not thinking about Ren was hard and she wasn’t very good at it. She found that she was caught between wishing Ren was with her and being glad he wasn’t around. She always enjoyed spending time with him, but right now she felt a bit raw and wasn’t entirely sure she could keep her sadness out of her eyes and voice. At least not enough that Ren wouldn’t notice. The trouble with falling in love, and then trying to fall out of love, with your best friend was that they were the most likely to notice when something was wrong. Of course, he never seemed to have noticed how she felt to start with, so maybe this wouldn’t be any different.

 

“So what do you say, Nora?” Neptune leaned close and asked.

 

Nora started slightly, “I’m sorry, I tuned out for a minute. Say about what?”

 

“Coming to the end of semester party with us tomorrow night,” Scarlet explained. “Yang won’t go because she’s concerned about making trouble, but you could totally go.”

 

“Yeah, and Ruby, Ren, and Jaune are welcome to come as well,” Sage added.

 

“Yeah, sure!” Nora tried to make her voice bright enthusiastic. “Count me in. I hope someone’s bringing snacks!”

 

“Yay!” Neptune cheered, throwing his arms in the air. “This is going to be so much fun!” He threw his arm around Nora and gave her a quick side hug. Nora laughed and leaned against him for a moment. Maybe a party would be fun – at the very least it would be distracting.

 

Neptune held out his scroll, “Put your contact info in and I’ll message you with the place and time. The local network in the city still works most of the time.”

 

Nora took the scroll and quickly punched in her contact information. Seconds later, her own scroll pinged with Neptune’s message.

 

“Sweet, looks like we’re all set!” Neptune said happily.

 

During the exchange, Nora and Neptune had shifted in the chair and were now facing each other, knees brushing while the rest of their bodies were angled towards the back corners of the seat. It was actually slightly easier and made talking more feasible than sitting side by side. Sage, Yang, and Scarlet had begun discussing different video games and were debating where they might be able to find a system with a large enough screen for all of them to play.

 

“Do you have your trident with you?” Nora asked curiously.

 

“No, why?”

 

“I wanted to look at it – I noticed at the tournament that you used an electrical discharge. Was that part of the weapon or your semblance?” Nora leaned forward eagerly. “It’s rare to find someone else who uses electricity regularly.”

 

“I kind of noticed that was your thing,” Neptune smiled. “It’s not my semblance, I use dust to add the electrical component into my trident. I can swap it out for other things, but electricity is my favorite honestly.” Neptune pulled his scroll back out and flipped through the screens quickly. “Here’s the blueprint I used when I was building it.”

 

Nora leaned close and studied the image. “This is amazing! Did you design it yourself?”

 

“Yeah, if you look here,” Neptune pointed to an area on the handle, “You can see where I add the dust cartridges and this piece here,” he moved his finger to another section, zooming in to enlarge it, “lets me pick when to apply the effect and whether it’s in rifle mode or trident.”

 

Nora continued to ask questions which Neptune gladly answered, and for a few minutes Ren was driven entirely from her mind. At least until…

 

“Nora?” Ren’s voice said, a question clear in the tone. Nora visibly jumped having been engrossed in her conversation deeply enough she hadn’t noticed him approach. “What are you doing?”

 

“Oh, hey, Renny!” Nora heard herself laugh nervously and inwardly winced. Well, that was awkward and not at all the way to make it seem like everything was normal. “Neptune was showing me the design for his trident. It’s reallycool,hebuiltithimself. Helikeselectricityforhismainattack,eventhough itcanuseothertypesofdusttoo.Infact…”

 

“Guess who!” Yang trilled, reaching around and covering Ren’s eyes from behind, effectively interrupting Nora’s rapidly deteriorating explanation.

 

“Yang, it hasn’t been THAT long.” Ren said solemnly. “I still recognize your voice.”

 

“Nothing ever gets by you!” Yang laughed. She dropped her hand and moved around to stand beside Nora and Neptune’s chair. “Good to see you!” She lightly punched Ren in the shoulder. He winced and rubbed his arm while narrowing his eyes at her. Then he laughed softly.

 

“It’s good to see you, Yang. Things haven’t been the same without you and the rest of team RWBY.”

 

“Long time, no see, Ren!” Neptune exclaimed. “We’ve been wondering where you were, everyone else came down ages ago. But don’t worry, I’ve been taking good care of Nora for you!”

 

A frown flitted across Ren’s face so fast Nora wasn’t entirely sure she didn’t imagine it.

 

“Do you want some tea, Ren?” Nora asked. “I can go grab some, I think I saw they have the herbal blend you like.”

 

“That’s okay,” Ren demurred. “I actually promised Qrow I’d head over to the library when I got up this morning. He asked me to look into a few things for him.”

 

“Ugh, who wants to go to the library when we aren’t even in classes?” Yang groaned. “Hey, Nora – why don’t we go find a good place to spar for the afternoon? The weather’s nice and I’d like to stretch out the kinks from riding for so long. You guys in?” Yang threw a look at team SSN.

 

Sage glanced at his scroll, “Actually, we’ve got to get going. We have a couple of classes to finish up this afternoon. Time to pack it in, boys.”

 

Neptune and Scarlet both groaned and climbed to their feet. “I don’t see why they keep giving us assignments on the day before break,” Scarlet groused.

 

“I know, right?” Sage said in a voice heavy with sarcasm. “It’s almost like they’re trying to _teach_ us something. It’s dreadful.”

 

“Cheer up, Scarlet,” Neptune said, clapping a hand on Scarlet’s shoulder. “At least Sun isn’t going to get us detention on the last day again.”

 

“Every cloud has a silver lining I suppose,” Scarlet sighed. “We’ll see you guys tomorrow. Let Nept know if Ruby and Jaune want to come along.”

 

“Come along to what?” Ren asked.

 

“Oh, right! We’re having an end of semester party tomorrow,” Neptune explained. “You want to come? Nora already said she’d go.”

 

“I don’t know,” Ren said quietly. “We’ll see.”

 

“Well, the more the merrier! Hope to see you! Do you want to tag along with us now? We can drop you by the library,” Neptune offered.

 

“Actually, that would be helpful. Thank you. Nora, do you need anything before I go?” Ren asked, glancing at his partner.

 

“Nope, I’m good! Sounds like Yang and I will be busy this afternoon. Catch you at dinner?” Nora rocked back and forth on her toes, hoping her agitation wasn’t clear.

 

“Okay,” Ren agreed. “See you then.”

 

Team SSN led the way out of the inn, with Ren falling in behind, Scarlet and Neptune chatting animatedly with periodic comments from Sage and Ren. Nora withdrew her notebook again and marked several new hashes on the page, almost savagely.

 

“Well, let’s go see where we can find to spar,” Yang said. “And when I beat you, you’re going to tell me what the hell is going on.”


	2. I'll Dry Your Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Nora talk

“You cheated.” Nora said with a groan, falling onto her back in the grass and gazing up at the flickers of sky and sunlight visible through the leaves in the trees. Magnhild lay beside her in hammer form.

 

“How did I cheat?” Yang demanded, mirroring Nora’s position, the top of her head abutted to the top of Nora’s while her legs and arms sprawled in the opposite direction. Both girls were breathing hard from their recent duel.

 

“I don’t know, but you must have. You never used to be able to beat me.”

 

“Maybe you wanted to lose. Now spill. What’s going on with you and Ren?”

 

Nora rolled onto her side and propped her head up with one arm. “Fine, I’ll tell you, but you have to SWEAR you’ll never tell ANYONE. Ever. Never. Ever…. Ever…”

 

“Nora, I got it. I promise. I’ll never, ever, ever tell anyone,” Yang swore.

 

“I’m in love with Ren,” Nora sighed.

 

Yang choked for a minute, then howled with laughter, holding her sides with one arm and pounding on the ground with her prosthetic. She tried several times to stop only to pause for a moment and start again. Tears ran down her face and her hair bounced furiously on her head with the movement of her body. Finally, after enough minutes had passed that she could feel a burning in her abs and the beginnings of a headache from the clenched muscles in her jaw, she finally managed to gasp out, “Lightning Bolt, you have to tell me something that literally the ENTIRE WORLD of Remnant doesn’t already know.”

 

“Shut up, Yang. That was just the first part.” Nora grumbled. “Now, do you want me to tell you or not?”

 

“Tell me, tell me!” Yang pleaded, pushing up on her knees and turning to face her friend. “I swear I’ll be serious now.”

 

Nora was quiet for a long moment and Yang watched worriedly as the smaller girl sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees and looked up at the sky again. In all the time Yang had known Nora, it was extremely rare to see her look so serious and to be so solemn. Yang felt a pang of guilt for her earlier laughter. Usually Nora was the life of the party, Yang’s partner in crime, up for any and all hijinks no matter how crazy or likely to get them in trouble with Professor Goodwitch.

 

They’d been given detention, thrown out of the arcade, forced to clean all of the trophies in the trophy hall, assigned cafeteria duty for a week, and sent to collect replacement syrup by themselves in Forever Fall and Nora had never been even briefly phased. If anything, Yang would have said Nora almost enjoyed the punishments as much as the events that led to them. Detentions turned into opportunities to play card games (Nora convincing Yang to smuggle the cards in her cleavage), if they couldn’t play in the arcade any more – at least they’d won all the stuffed animals, cleaning was a race to see who could finish first, and even if you had to bring back enough syrup for a whole class – that didn’t mean you couldn’t eat it until your own stomach hurt before you filled the jars. Yang still couldn’t put syrup on her pancakes after that adventure, but she was pretty sure Nora would still drink it for breakfast if Ren didn’t stop her.

 

“I’m in love with Ren,” Nora said again, softly. “But I’m trying to stop. He doesn’t feel the same way and I don’t want to risk what we have for something that wasn’t meant to be.”

 

“Seriously? I find that a little hard to believe,” Yang argued. “You two are inseparable. He gets up at 4 am if you want - just to make pancakes. He listens to your crazy dream stories until he knows them better than you do. If you asked him to put the moon back together, I’m pretty sure he’d keep trying until he figured it out. Sometimes he even manages to convince you to eat something that isn’t made of sugar or caffeine. What about that makes you think he doesn’t love you back?”

 

“How much did Ruby and Jaune tell you about what happened on our way to Haven?” Nora asked.

 

“Not much yet - there hasn’t been time for more than the highlights. Why? What does that have to do with how Ren feels about you?” Yang paused. “Oh my god, you can’t tell me he met someone in one of those villages? Do you need me to go and beat her up for you?”

 

Nora laughed and Yang felt something in her chest loosen a bit at the sound. “No, nothing like that. And I can break the competition’s legs on my own, thank you very much.” Nora patted Magnhild absently. “Ugh, I don’t even know where to start. It feels… weird talking about this with anyone. Like I’m betraying Ren’s trust or something, but it’s not like it’s actually a secret… it’s just not something we ever talk about. And besides, Jaune and Ruby know now, so that cat’s pretty much out of the bag anyway.”

 

Nora fell silent and Yang, sensing the other girl needed some time to gather her thoughts, kept quiet as well. She folded her arms behind her head and tried to make pictures out of the leaves above them. That one over there almost reminded her of cat ears….

 

“After Qrow got hurt,” Nora began softly, “we were trying to find the fastest way to get him help and medicine. The main road went over a mountain and we weren’t sure we could carry him that far. But the other route went through Kuroyuri. Jaune and Ruby wanted to go that way and avoid the mountain, but I knew Ren couldn’t.”

 

Nora paused again and pulled a bottle of water out of her back pack. She held out another bottle to Yang who took it and twisted the lid off. The day was quite warm and the sparring had made Yang thirsty. She sat up and turned to lean against the trunk of the tree and gulped some of the water. She noticed Nora was sipping hers, a change from the girl’s normal contest with herself to see how few breaths she could take while emptying a drink.

 

“Kuroyuri is where I met Ren for the first time,” Nora continued after a moment, fingers nervously twisting the bottle cap back and forth. “I can’t really remember how long I was there before I first saw him, but I don’t think it was too long. I was on my own by that point and it was a long time ago so … Sometimes it’s a little hard for me to figure out how much time I spent somewhere. Mostly I just remember how hungry I was or how wet it would get under the bridge during a storm.”

 

“How hungry you were?” Yang asked cautiously. “What’d you mean?”

 

“Oh,” Nora shrugged. “I was an orphan, I didn’t have anywhere to live and most of the people in Kuroyuri weren’t all that welcoming. I don’t actually remember any adults paying much attention to me, except maybe to chase me out of the area, until after I’d been with Ren for a while. I mean, there must have been someone once, right? You can’t survive being a baby without someone taking care of you – I just don’t remember them. Ren had parents though. I saw him with them around the village. They were lovely. His mom was so pretty and they always seemed to have so much fun together. He wasn’t as quiet then either, he used to sass her and make her laugh. When I wasn’t looking for food, I used to like watching them together and pretending I had a mom too.”

 

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Yang wondered. “I knew you were orphans, but not that you were alone so long.”

 

Nora seemed startled. “Well, it was a long time ago. It really doesn’t matter any more. There are so many more interesting things to talk about! Bad things happen, but without the bad, you don’t appreciate the good! I don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on it – I wouldn’t even bring it up now, but … I think it’s important to help explain things.”

 

“Anyway, Ren’s mom was great from what I saw and the stories he’s told me. And his dad was pretty amazing too. I only saw him a few times since he was out of the village a lot, but he always looked so fierce! But then he’d smile at Ren and An like they were the only two people in the world and they all looked so happy! So when Kuroyuri fell, it was the worst thing that ever happened to Ren.”

 

“I didn’t see most of it – I was hiding under one of the houses, but it was awful. The village was completely unprepared. We didn’t have any huntsmen and suddenly we were overrun with Grimm. There were Nevermores so thick in the sky that they blocked out the stars, and on the ground, besides Beowolves, was the most awful thing I’d ever seen. Honestly, it’s _still_ the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen. It was a huge, spindly, horned, almost human-figure on top of a gigantic skeletal horse. It was clearly a Grimm, but not like any Grimm I’d ever heard of before. It seemed almost… intelligent. Not just driven by hunger or instinct like most Grimm. Of course, I didn’t really think about it in those terms at the time, but looking back it was clear. I had nightmares about it for years.”

 

“Ren lost both of his parents that night, but he saved me.” Nora laughed ruefully. “That was a lousy bargain for him. ‘Hey Lie, we’ll take the two most important people in your life – who just happen to be absolutely wonderful – but we’ll give you this worthless little beggar girl in exchange! She eats trash and can’t read and low-key stalks you, it’ll be great!’”

 

Nora didn’t realize she was crying until the tears started hitting her gloves, leaving darker splotches on the bubble-gum pink.

 

“Nora,” Yang’s voice was sympathetic and exasperated at the same time. She reached out a hand and set it on Nora’s shoulder. “Don’t be stupid. You know Ren doesn’t think of it like that. It wasn’t your fault.”

 

“I know, I know,” Nora pinched the bridge of her nose firmly, the slight pain helping to control the tears. She sniffled and raised a hand to knuckle the moisture from her eyes. “But still. Maybe he should. It was the worst night of his life. It wasn’t exactly a red-letter day for me either – but when it was all over… Yang, I’d been by myself for so long. I don’t even remember not being on my own. After that though – I had Ren. I always had Ren. I don’t know if I’d change it for him, even if I could, because then I’d be alone again. What kind of friend does that make me?”

 

Yang snorted. “Um, hmm, possibly a human one? And I still don’t see what this has to do with anything.”

 

“I’m getting there! Geez.” Nora took a deep breath and another swig of water from her bottle. “So, anyway, back to the trip with Jaune and Ruby. When we got to the split in the road on the way to Mistral, Qrow was poisoned and Ruby was desperate to find some help. Things were getting pretty tense, so we decided to split up – Jaune and Ruby were going to go check and see if there was a longer way around through Kuroyuri and Ren and I would go over the mountain."

 

“I’m still not sure if separating was the _best_ decision, it certainly wasn’t the _safest_ one, but we were running out of time, you know? If anything had ended differently though… it would have been my fault. It was my idea to split up.”

 

Nora started to speak faster as she told the story and Yang was glad she had plenty of past experience in interpreting her friend’s frantic tales, even if it was odd hearing her recite the ordeal without periodic interruptions from Ren to clarify a point or correct an error. Yang had heard bits and pieces from Ruby about the time spent carrying Qrow alone down the road, but hearing about the climb and the Nuckelavee’s trophy-filled lair discovered at the summit was chilling. She could hear the lingering terror in Nora’s tone as she described the creature’s calls, the breathless dash back down the mountain, pushing through the trees and underbrush in a desperate attempt to reach their friends in time, Ren’s memories of  Kuroyuri vanquished in the moment by fear for his friends. The overwhelming relief when they saw Jaune and Ruby safe followed by the horror of the Nuckelavee approaching. The shock wave when it opened its mouth and screamed. She painted the battle in broad strokes, rushing through the descriptions of tactics and maneuvers and glossing over yet another occasion of throwing herself between Ren and an attack. The words tumbled out quickly until Nora choked on another stuttered sob.

 

“Yang, I didn’t know what to do! He’d lost StormFlower, his aura was depleted - I watched it go out! And he was just going to attack it again! I… I don’t think he cared what happened to him any more! I think he was planning to die!” Yang scrambled over to Nora. Wrapping the smaller girl in her arms, she pushed Nora’s face into her shoulder.

 

“It’s okay, Nora,” Yang murmured softly. “He’s fine. You’re okay. You’re both okay.” Nora held on tightly for a few moments before pushing back, sniffling.

 

“Thanks, Yang,” Nora said softly, wiping at her face with the back of her gloves and taking a deep breath. “I tackled him when he tried to go after it again and knocked him under one of the houses. He kept trying to go back out and I….” Nora paused. “I hit him. I don’t know what I was thinking! But he wouldn’t stop trying to get out there. He didn’t have a plan, he didn’t have a weapon, he was just… I’ve never seen him like that, Yang. You know Ren - he’s cautious and calm - almost too calm. Well, he wasn’t calm - he wasn’t even really ‘there’. I don’t even know how to explain it. I don’t think I’ve ever been that scared, even during everything that happened at Beacon. Even when we were waiting to find out what happened to Pyrrha and Ruby.…”

 

Yang squeezed Nora’s shoulder in sympathy. Looking for Ruby and Pyrrha in the aftermath of the Fall had been harrowing. Ultimately for Yang things had ended well enough, even if life would never be entirely the same. Ruby had been unconscious, but alive. Yang’s family had been damaged, but together, able to limp home to the sanctuary of Patch. Team RWBY was scattered, though with the possibility that some day and some way they would be together again. JNPR was broken beyond repair and nothing would ever fully fill the void Pyrrha left in their lives. Yang knew that far too well.

 

Nora drew in another shuddering breath. “Losing Pyrrha was the worst thing that ever happened to me. To Jaune too. I don’t think we could live through losing Ren too.” She paused again, breathing deeply. Yang waited patiently as Nora worked to regain her composure. “Anyway - after we killed the Nuckelavee - OH! And did I mention I got to flip off a roof onto the horse head? It was AWESOME! - One of the Mistral airship spotted us and came and picked us up.”

 

“That was pretty convenient,” Yang remarked.

 

“I know, right?” Nora gave a watery chuckle. “If they’d gotten there ten minutes earlier, the fight would have been a lot easier! We got Qrow and Ruby loaded onto one of the ships with Jaune and sent them off. Ren and I took the other ship since they were kind of small - they were just used for patrols you know? We were actually pretty lucky they saw us at all.”

 

“So you and Ren were alone on the other ship?” Yang wiggled her eyebrows at Nora. “Sounds romantic!”

 

“Sure, alone - except for the pilot and the navigator and a scout…. But in all seriousness, it was kind of romantic I thought. We were tired, but for the first time in awhile it felt like we were safe. And the view was amazing. Then,” Nora paused, her cheeks turning slightly pink, “Ren took my hand! And he smiled at me! We kind of cuddled! It was… You know what, this sounds so stupid! It’s not like we’ve never held hands before! Or cuddled! And he smiles at me all the time! Agh!” Nora buried her face in her hands. “Why am I such an idiot? Just because he initiated something for once, suddenly I decided he must be in love with me and I got my hopes up and….”

 

Yang reached out and pulled Nora’s hands away from her face gently. “I don’t think that sounds stupid at all! I’ve known you guys a long time and I can’t really think of a time Ren was the one to reach out. That seems like a pretty big step! I can see why you thought things had changed. But… why did you decide he’s not interested?”

 

Nora sighed. “Once, right after we got to Mistral, we went to see Jaune in his room and he was kind of down about Pyrrha and we all sat for a bit just kind of hanging out. Ren sat behind me and put his hand on my shoulder while I gave Jaune a hug - and… it was nice. But since then? I’ve barely seen Ren. He hasn’t said very much and he never wants to do anything. If anything, I think he’s avoiding me. I tried and tried to think of why, if he was interested, he’d stay away. Like you said, _**everyone** _ knows I like him so he can’t be worried about that. Then I realized that he probably knows and he’s uncomfortable or he’s just totally uninterested. Either way - if I push he might walk away entirely. I think he was just reacting to what happened in Kuroyuri and I read too much into it. Of course he was more emotional than normal! That, that _thing_ ruined his life and we finally defeated it!”

 

“Well…” Yang wasn’t quite sure how to respond. Nora’s logic wasn’t bad, per say, but Yang wasn’t convinced Ren was as uninterested as Nora always insisted that he was. After all, it was always Nora who declared they weren’t ‘together-together’ - Ren had never once said anything along those lines. “Nora, I know this probably isn’t what you want to hear, but I think you need to just tell him everything and let him tell you how he’s feeling. As long as you make it clear you’ll accept his answer either way, I don’t think it will hurt your friendship. You guys have way too much history. It might be weird for a little while if he doesn’t feel the same way, but you’ll get through it.”

 

“Maybe.” Nora laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Trying to just stop thinking about it isn’t going very well.” She pulled a notepad from her backpack and showed it to Yang. Yang immediately recognized it as the one Nora had earlier at the inn. The first several pages were all filled with tightly marked hashes marks. “I’ve been marking down every time I think about Ren and… being more than friends. You know, so I can try to think about it less. I’m not sure it’s working.”

 

“Yeah… that doesn’t look so good. You’re making a bit of a hash of it.”

 

There was a pause and then Nora tossed the note pad at her. “That was awful!”

 

“It was kind of tearable,” Yang agreed, dodging the handful of grass and leaves Nora threw at her. “Hey! Don’t go off all half-grassed!”

 

Nora groaned, but the following laugh was much more real. “I don’t know if talking to him is the best idea, but… I’ll think about it. Now, what about you?”

 

“What about me?” Yang wondered.

 

“How are you holding up with the whole… Blake… thing?”

 

“Oh.” Yang flopped back down on her back and huffed out a breath of air. “Better, I guess? I’m not as mad any more.”

 

Nora moved over to sit beside Yang’s head, leaning over slightly to better see her friend’s face. “Not _as_ mad, but… still mad?”

 

“Yeah. Still mad. I’m trying to understand, I really am - but it’s hard. Every damn time something happens, she just takes off. I don’t know what more we can do to prove that we care about her and that we’ll be here for her even when things go wrong. Things were bad, Nora, so bad. We lost Pyrrha. We lost Penny. We lost the school. I lost my goddamn arm! And she still couldn’t be bothered to stay. She still just took off when we needed her. When _I_ needed her. Weiss fought leaving every second. Blake didn’t even say good bye!” Yang punched the ground beside her leaving a small dent around her fist. “The only reason I know anything about what happened is because Sun came by Patch before he went after her to tell me. I didn’t hear anything from Blake! I had to hear it from _SUN_! I don’t even know if she knows Ruby is okay! Ruby hadn’t woken up when Sun left.”

 

“That’s so hard, I’m sorry,” Nora dropped a comforting hand on Yang’s arm and Yang gave her a grateful smile. “You know I’m here if I can do anything.”

 

“Thanks, that means a lot. And I know you are. You and Ren have always been there when I needed you, ever since we accidentally set those fireworks off in the head master’s office at Signal on our first day.”

 

Nora laughed. “Oh man, I’d almost forgotten about that.”

 

“Forgotten? How can you forget our nefarious past? I’m almost offended!” Yang smiled, something a bit closer to her normal sunny expression. “Anyway - believe it or not, I really am less upset with Blake that I was, but, this time I don’t think I can run after her. I love her, I really do - but she has to come back on her own. We can’t, _I_ can’t, always be the ones doing the pursuing. We have a lot of work to do if we’re going to get back to where we were.”

 

“That’s fair,” Nora agreed. “It sounds like you’ve thought about this a lot.”

 

“I’ve had a lot of time to think. Now - what do you think? Time to find lunch? Or do you want a rematch?”

 

“Definitely a rematch! I’m not going out on a loss!”

 

Laughing, both girls climbed to their feet and headed back down to the sparring field.

 


	3. I Don't Know the Answers

The current score in the inn room was Ren - 0, Birds - 1. If you asked Ren, he wouldn’t say he disliked birds. However, in spring when the birds woke up as soon as sunlight was even teasing over the horizon and started singing, chirruping, squawking, and bickering before anyone who had been travelling overland by foot for the better part of eight months wanted to be awake, he was not in the camp of bird fans. He also hated the way that birds made a mess of anything located near a tree without any thought of anyone who might sitting under said tree. He was even less fond of the way they sometimes didn’t even wait until they were in a tree to make a mess and how you would either have to pick between being covered in something gross or being late to class to go change. While he might not have actively been delighted when Ruby had knocked that bird out of the sky during their first test at Beacon, he couldn’t say it hadn’t given him some small satisfaction. Perhaps, he considered, he really didn’t like birds after all.

 

After fighting against the irritation of the birds for over an hour (even Nora wasn’t this talkative first thing in the morning!), Ren finally gave up on sleeping and tossed his pillow to the far side of the bed. Kicking back the covers, he swung his legs over to the floor and stretched his arms above his head. A quick assessment told him that while he was still slightly tired, his mind was finally clear of the exhaustion that had caught up with him after they arrived in Mistral, his aura reserves had finished replenishing themselves, and (other than some lingering resentment aimed solidly at the feathered fiends outside) his mood was positive. He grinned to himself. The travelling and battles had worn him down far more than he liked to admit, but he was back to normal at last. Maybe even better than normal - he had faced down a demon from his past, and this time, he’d won.

 

He was more grateful than he could say for the fact the Nora had given him the space he needed since the arrival in Mistral to work through his feelings after everything that had happened, as well as the time to rest. He appreciated her understanding that he needed to sort things out himself, but he knew that now as he was more settled, she would be there to listen and support him. Once again he thanked whomever might be listening for the gift of his friend and partner. Or would it be girlfriend now? The word felt unfamiliar even in the confines of his mind, but no less thrilling for the lack of familiarity.

 

It wasn’t a wholly unexpected development by any means - he’d never really considered a future without Nora by his side. Her continual insistence that they were only friends had confused him from time to time, but he had been happy to let her set the pace. There was no rush and training had been the top priority. However, during the journey to Haven he’d sensed a change in Nora’s feelings and when he reached out to her after the battle in Kuroyuri, she had reached back just as she always did.

 

Ren hummed to himself as he gathered up the items he’d need to shower and get ready for the day. A quick glance at the clock on his scroll told him that it was later than he normally got up, but not so late that he’d be likely to have entirely missed out on breakfast. Hopefully Nora had already eaten - preferably something with actual nutritional value- but he wasn’t holding his breath. More than likely she’d had three cups of coffee and half a dozen pastries and was vibrating so hard that Qrow would need to have Jaune sit on her to keep the destruction minimal. He smiled as he pushed open the door and headed down the hall to the shared bath. Nora wasn’t nearly as hyper or talkative as she made herself out to be at times, but enough caffeine and sugar certainly pushed things to the next level.

 

Thankfully the bathroom was available when he arrived, though he supposed it wasn’t really surprising given the later hour. The rooms on this floor were occupied entirely by members of their group which certainly made things easier. He tended to be the only habitually late riser, though from time to time Qrow could manage to out sleep him, especially if he’d stayed up drinking in the inn’s bar. He was fairly certain Nora had never slept more than a few moments past sunrise in her life, something she blamed on her early childhood as well as an overabundance of energy. Oscar was usually the next to rise, citing years of living on a farm where sunrise always denoted the start of a new day. Cows were not patient about concepts like ‘weekends’ and ‘sleeping in’. Ruby struck something of a middle ground - while not excited by mornings, she didn’t seem to dread or avoid them either and got up at a consistent time each day. Jaune was not naturally a morning person, but still clung to the routine he and Pyrrha had established when training at Beacon and rose early to fit in some practice or a run before breakfast. Ren worried a bit sometimes at how much Pyrrha’s loss was still impacting his friend. Ren still mourned the loss of their team mate and always would, but with Jaune it was deeper. Ren knew all too well what guilt looked like when mixed with grief and the combination was heavily painted over Jaune’s face. He sighed, unsure of what to do about the problem. Now that they weren’t constantly looking over their shoulders and had more privacy, he’d have to ask Nora what she thought. She was always better at figuring out how to handle emotions than he was.

 

Thinking about Nora again was enough to return the smile to Ren’s face that had dropped off while worrying about Jaune. He was confident the two of them would be able to solve the problem together and find a way to help. Nora was more perceptive than most people gave her credit for, instead most took her seemingly flighty personality at face-value. However, he knew how much of a facade some of chatter and antics really were. While not completely different than her real self, Nora had taken to amplifying her naturally outgoing personality shortly after the first city they reached when fleeing Kuroyuri, and largely for Ren’s own sake. After they had somehow managed to escape the Grimm-ridden corpse of the village and achieved some semblance of safety, Ren had slowly succumbed to a deep, emotional shock, stemming from the loss of his home and parents. He didn’t speak very much, retreating into himself much like a turtle. Interacting with new people was difficult for him and he found that crowds and noise tended to make him shut down even further, especially if Nora wasn’t close by.

 

Not long after they arrived, the elder in the city had declared Ren to be “an odd child” who clearly had “something wrong” with him. It was then that Nora began to ramble. Anything that was on her mind, spilling in a ceaseless flow from her lips. The next group they encountered as they continued their journey had barely been able to get a word in edgewise in the face of Nora’s babbling.

 

When he questioned her about it later, Nora had smiled brightly at Ren in response, “If I’m always talking, no one will think it’s weird that you aren’t talking! They’ll just figure that I’m annoying and loud and never give you a chance to say anything! That way you can be comfortable and no one will be mean to you! I don’t care if they’re mean to me - they don’t matter anyway. As long as you like me, everything’s fine!” Ren had been sure at the time something was wrong with Nora’s logic, but his exhausted and grieving mind hadn’t been able to pinpoint what. By the time he’d been old enough to poke holes in Nora’s argument, they’d already fallen into a pattern where Nora chattered, and Ren was largely silent. True to her word, Nora didn’t seem to mind when others disapproved, and Ren knew he simply had to ask if he needed her to be quiet. Besides, she didn’t talk as much when it was just them. As time went by and they eventually settled into Signal and made friends instead of temporary acquaintances in the areas they passed through, Ren realized that when they were comfortable with someone - he talked more and Nora talked less. It probably wasn’t an ideal solution, but the habits were ingrained now and thankfully their friends didn’t seem to mind their quirks.

 

Sometimes looking back, he was baffled and amazed by how many times Nora had inserted herself between him and the world during those early months. Her experience in fending for herself had helped keep them fed, and she willingly took any harsh words or physical out lashings from those offended by orphans scrounging in their city as long as it meant Ren was left alone. Even now, Nora had a bad habit of taking hits intended for Ren. His heart nearly stopped each time she bodily threw herself between him and harm. He wondered how best to explain that the possibility of her being seriously hurt was more dangerous than anything a Grimm was likely to deal out. Though, she’d sat out during the fight with the King Taijitu - eventually he should ask her about that one. He still had to smile when he remembered Nora swing upside down from the tree after the fight and booping his nose, as well as her sloth impression. Ridiculous.

 

As Ren finished up his routine, he idly wondered if Nora was back at the inn yet or if she was still wandering the city. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to go track her down, but her sense of direction wasn’t the best and it wouldn’t be the first, or likely the last, time she got lost in a new place. At least the scroll network in Mistral seemed to work more often than not within the city so he could call her instead of just roaming the streets if needed. He wondered if he should invite her along on his task for the day. Qrow had asked him to check the library when he had time for whatever information he could find about the maidens that might help them - especially anything that might give them a hint about where to find the Spring maiden. Ren was sceptical that the information would be lying around the library, and Qrow had acknowledged it was unlikely, but they didn’t have any better leads at the moment so they had to explore all available options.

 

Nora would make an unexpected research partner to most, but Ren found that her ability to make unique connections between ideas helped him approach problems from new angles. Sometimes she noticed things he’d overlooked because of his more methodical analysis of the information. A little absurdity wasn’t always a bad thing. And, he admitted to himself, it was a reasonable excuse to spend some time with his partner without everyone else around. He enjoyed being with their friends, or spending time on his own, but it had been a long time since he and Nora had been alone. He refused to count the time spent climbing the mountain that ended in the Nuckelavee’s lair.

 

Ren carefully double checked the bathroom counter to make sure he’d gathered all of his things before unlocking the door and heading back to his room to drop off his toiletries. Back in the room, he swiftly made his bed, pausing for a moment to frown at Nora’s side of the room. Tidy was one thing his partner was not. Sighing, he quickly straightened her bed as well and picked up the things she’d left scattered around, restoring them to their proper places. After another moment to gather up the few things he felt he would need for the day - scroll, Storm Flower, enough Lien for breakfast and lunch, and a handful of hard candies (in case Nora required bribing) - he was ready to go. He headed down the stairs to the main floor of the inn, a small smile curling up the edges of his lips. Today was going to be a good day.

 

Two minutes later, he was frozen at the base of the stairs, good mood forgotten, trying to comprehend the scene before him. The common room of the inn was filled with familiar, but largely unexpected faces. Some time before he had ventured downstairs, Yang had apparently joined the group. Since the last time he had seen Yang had been when she was recovering consciousness in a field hospital in Vale, that was startling to say the least. Especially since he could see she was gesturing with both arms from his place across the room. Beside her, Sage was leaning forward intently, clearly fascinated with whatever story she was telling. Scarlet was lounging in one of the chairs, his eyes also on Yang, and he could hear the boy’s sharp laugh at whatever she’d just said.

 

Ren absorbed all those details in a quick glance, filing away questions for Yang at a later date. His brain had stalled out, however, at the sight of Nora seated next to Neptune in a chair that was clearly not intended for two. They were angled towards each other, knees brushing, one of Neptune’s arms draped along the back of the chair with fingertips resting on Nora’s shoulder lightly. The boy’s other hand held his scroll horizontally, screen fully, expanded, and Nora was gazing at it intently while Neptune talked. Her smile flashed, almost blinding, at something the boy said and Ren felt an unfamiliar curdling in his stomach. His feet started moving almost before his mind had processed what he was planning. He bypassed the rest of the party and halted directly in front of Neptune and Nora.

 

“Nora?” Ren desperately tried to keep his voice as neutral as possible. “What are you doing?”

 

Nora’s entire body jolted and her eyes jerked up to meet Ren’s, filling with nerves. Ren felt his stomach twist further. She almost seemed… guilty? Why would she feel guilty? What was going on?

 

“Oh, hey, Renny!” Nora’s laugh was artificial sounding, nothing like her normal uninhibited humor. “Neptune was showing me the design for his trident. It’s reallycool,hebuiltithimself. Helikeselectricityforhismainattack,eventhough itcanuseothertypesofdusttoo.Infact…”

 

Two hands clamped over Ren’s eyes, interrupting the increasingly frantic monologue from his partner. Ren briefly noted that one of the hands was made of cool metal rather than warm skin. “Guess who!” Yang’s voice sounded in his ear. Ren felt a bit of the tension he hadn’t even noticed leaching from his shoulders.

 

“Yang, it hasn’t been THAT long,” Ren noted calmly. “I still recognize your voice.”

 

“Nothing ever gets by you!” Yang’s voice, unlike Nora’s, was natural, her laughter unforced as she dropped her hands from his eyes. She quickly ducked out from behind him and came to stand by his side instead. “Good to see you!” Her metal hand connected with his shoulder with no small amount of force. Ren flinched slightly and reached up to rub his arm. He shot Yang a narrow-eyed look before relenting with a laugh.

 

“It’s good to see you, Yang. Things haven’t been the same without you and the rest of team RWBY.”

 

“Long time, no see, Ren!” Neptune’s cheerful greeting grated on his nerves a bit, unusual as he’d spent quite a bit of time with Neptune and Sun at Beacon during the lead up to the Vytal tournament and genuinely had enjoyed their company. “We’ve been wondering where you were, everyone else came down ages ago. But don’t worry, I’ve been taking good care of Nora for you!” Neptune winked one bright blue eye at this statement and Ren felt a frown pull at his lips. He quickly cleared his expression back to a more neutral one, but the words echoed in his head, _‘I’ve been taking good care of Nora for you!’_ What did he mean by that exactly?

 

Ren spent a few minutes making idle conversation with his friends, not entirely paying attention to the discussion, thoughts still in a whirl. Why was Nora sitting with Neptune? Why was she acting so nervous? Was she already tired of being his girlfriend? He didn’t understand what was happening at all. True, they hadn’t said the words, but did they need to? Had he misinterpreted everything? Was she interested in Neptune? He clasped his hands behind him, hoping no one would notice they were trembling slightly.

 

A sigh from Scarlet finally brought his attention all the way back to the conversation. “....let Nept know if Ruby and Jaune want to come along.”

 

“Come along to what?” Ren asked, not entirely sure what the topic of conversation was at this point.

 

“Oh, right! We’re having an end of semester party tomorrow,” Neptune explained excitedly. “You want to come? Nora already said she’d go.” Neptune smiled at Nora and Ren had to fight to keep from frowning.

 

“I don’t know,” Ren said quietly. Parties weren’t really his favorite things. He had occasionally attended one with Nora and enjoyed watching her enjoy them, but he wasn’t quite sure what was happening with his partner at the moment - or if she’d even want him there. “We’ll see.”

 

“Well, the more the merrier! Hope to see you! Do you want to tag along with us now? We can drop you by the library,” Neptune suggested, seemingly oblivious to the swirl of emotions in Ren’s head. Ren was grateful that it appeared his thoughts weren’t showing on his face or in his voice.

 

“Actually, that would be helpful. Thank you. Nora, do you need anything before I go?” Ren briefly hoped that Nora would object to his departure. While the guidance of SSN would make locating the library easier, he would be happy to stay with Nora instead or wait for her to join them.

 

“Nope, I’m good! Sounds like Yang and I will be busy this afternoon. Catch you at dinner?” Ren wondered what he’d missed. He didn’t recall Nora and Yang discussing plans, but he had to admit he hadn’t been paying attention as he tried to sort through what was happening.

 

“Okay,” Ren said reluctantly. “See you then.” He caught a brief, sympathetic glance from Yang before he turned away and followed the others towards the front doors of the inn. Neptune took the lead, one hand clamped firmly on Scarlet’s wrist. Ren fell into step with Sage, just behind them.

 

“I’m not a child, Neptune,” Scarlet complained. “You don’t have to hold my hand. I can cross the street by myself.”

 

“I’m not helping you cross the street,” Neptune laughed as he pushed open the door of the inn and led them outside. “But I think we _all_ remember the last time you didn’t want to go finish exams.”

 

“I didn’t know you could run that fast in those boots,” Sage agreed. “I’m not sure which was worse, trying to catch you or listening to you complain about the blisters later.”

 

Scarlet shot a glare over his shoulder. “You laughed at me! And you kept making me go get things for you just so you could watch me limp!”

 

Sage grinned unrepentantly, “I can’t help it, you’re cute when you pout.” Scarlet’s face flushed, but he didn’t say anything in response.

 

Ren looked up at Sage, “He really thought he could outrun you? Your legs are a lot longer than his.”

 

“I don’t think he was really thinking about anything except the fact that instead of studying with the rest of us, he’d spent the entire week catching up on X-Ray and Vav comics,” Neptune explained. “Apparently he forgot that we were coming up to exams and when Sage mentioned it we had the first one that morning, he turned sheet white and just started running. We were all late and got docked points. Then Sun tried to flirt his way out of it and we ended up with detention on the first day of break.”

 

“It was Sun’s fault in the first place,” Scarlet huffed. “He’s the one who gave me the comic books right before we needed to prep for exams.”

 

“I don’t think he meant for you to read them right then!” Neptune insisted.

 

“Or maybe he did - this is Sun we’re talking about,” Sage said with a shrug.

 

“He’s not wrong,” Ren agreed. “Sun can be a bit of a trouble maker.” Honestly, that tendency was one of the things Ren liked about Sun. His high-energy, mischievous personality as well as his endless optimism and faith in his friends reminded Ren a bit of Nora. Neptune was a bit quieter and the slightest bit shy, though still fun-loving and outgoing. Ren had been a bit surprised at how easily he had fit in with the two, given that he was often a bit out of place with such large personalities. Sun and Neptune, however, seemed to have an easy sense of when to allow him space and how to include him in their activities. Meeting the rest of their team had clarified a lot of the dynamic as Sage was calm and largely introverted and Scarlet required careful handling. Ren suspected the widely varied team make up had forced all of them to quickly learn how to interact with a wide variety of temperaments.

 

“Oh.” Neptune exclaimed suddenly. “I forgot the library’s on the other side of campus from our class. Why don’t you guys go on ahead so Scarlet doesn’t get ‘lost’? I’ll meet you there as soon as I get Ren to the library.”

 

“Sounds good to me,” Sage agreed, snagging Scarlet’s wrist from Neptune’s grip and tugging gently. “C’mon Scarlet, if you’re good and don’t try to run away, I’ll buy you a cookie after class.”

 

“I’m not a child! You don’t need to bribe me!” Scarlet shrieked as they started walking away.

 

“So you don’t want a cookie?” Sage mused.

 

“I…. didn’t say that….”

 

Ren and Neptune watched the two banter as they walked for a few moments before Ren turned to face his friend.

 

“If the library is too far from your class, you can just give me directions. I don’t want to impose.”

 

Neptune rubbed his neck nervously. “It is pretty far from my class, but it’s close to where we are now so it’s not a big deal. We had to head this direction anyway. I, uh, actually just wanted to talk to you. Is everything okay? You seemed a little … off when you came downstairs.”

 

“I’m fine.” Ren made sure his voice was carefully neutral. Neptune was the last person he wanted to talk to about his current worries. He had thought he’d done a better job of disguising his mood.

 

“Um, okay….” Neptune trailed off looking uncertain, but then took a deep breath and continued. “Is something going on with you and Nora? You were both acting kind of weird.”

 

Ren sighed. He really needed to talk to Nora before he involved anyone else in his troubles. “Can you just show me where the library is, please? I promised Qrow I would get started today.”

 

“Oh, um, of course.” With a last worried glance at Ren, Neptune started forward. “It’s just a bit more this way. But if you want to talk later, I’d be happy to listen.”

 

Straightening his shoulders, Ren tried to force his swirling thoughts into order and followed after Neptune. There was plenty of time to try to figure out what was happening with the blue-haired boy and Nora, but for now he had a job to do. Even if he no longer found himself in the mood.

 


	4. Tomorrow's Still Unknown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this took so long! Real life got... complicated and busy. I think it's back on track now. I only finished about half of what I had planned for this chapter, so I'm moving it forward rather than letting the word count get crazy, so look for another update soonish since things are all plotted and partially written!

“What have they been feeding you anyway?” Nora demanded as she finished stowing her gear away in the bag she’d brought with her to the sparring grounds. After three rounds, she and Yang had called a halt to their contest. Yang had won for once, claiming the victory two times to Nora’s one. After a quick shower, the two were preparing to head back to the inn for lunch.

 

“Would you believe Pumpkin Pete’s Marshmallow Flakes?” Yang joked as she gathered up her own things haphazardly and dumped them into her own bag.

 

Nora laughed brightly and Yang was happy to hear the redhead sounding like her old self for the moment. “No, I absolutely would not believe it was Pumpkin Pete’s. Even Pyrrha couldn’t stomach those. We went with her to a shoot for a commercial once? I thought she might actually throw up!”

 

“No, seriously?! Okay, but, can you believe Ruby actually _likes_ them?” Shouldering her bag, Yang pushed the door to the locker room open, holding it for Nora to pass through after her.

 

Nora gasped, “You have to be kidding! I knew Ruby would eat just about anything, but that? That’s worse than I thought!” Nora shook her head. “But seriously, Yang, something changed. Not that you haven’t always been good, because you have, but you seem…” Nora paused for a moment, searching for the right word. “More focused? Calmer? It reminded me a bit of sparring with Ren - I mean, except for the fact that you don’t wear out after five minutes and want to take a nap!” Nora stopped speaking with a groan and paused to rustle around in the depths of her bag.

 

“Oh, I spent a lot of time training with my dad,” Yang replied cheerfully, stopping beside Nora on the pathway leading back towards the main road. “He kept insisting I needed to work on my ‘balance’ and shit like that. Something about ‘ _relying on your semblance too much_ ’, blah, blah, blah, ‘ _temper tantrums_ ’, blah blah.” Yang made air quotes as she imitated Taiyang’s voice, then laughed. “I hate to admit it, but I think he might have been right. I’ve been really trying to fight without resorting to my semblance and it seems like it’s working out!” She quickly flexed her real arm to show the muscles, then looked at her companion with a slight frown. “Nora… what are you looking for anyway?”

 

The redhead looked up with a sigh. “I can’t find my notebook and I mentioned Ren again so…”

 

“Nora. Do you really think making a tick mark every time you think about Ren is going to fix this?” Yang asked solemnly, raising one eyebrow at her smaller friend.

 

“Maybe?” Nora opened her eyes wide and tried to instill some optimism in her voice. Yang just raised her eyebrow higher and Nora looked away in defeat. “No, not really.”

 

“Damn straight. You need to _talk_ to Ren. But - that can wait for later! Right now, you need junk food!” Yang pumped her fist in the air. “I need junk food. Everyone needs junk food!”

 

“Sugar!” Nora crowed happily. “Caffeine!”

 

“Crepes!”

 

“Oooh, good call. You’re smarter than you look, Blondie!”

 

“Thanks!” Yang paused. “Wait, did you just call me dumb?”

 

“Whatever gave you that idea?” Nora asked, quickly skipping ahead. Then, looking back, she called over her shoulder, “But, I mean, if the shoe fits…”

 

“Oh, I’m going to get you for that!” Yang shouted, running after Nora. Laughing, Nora sped up and the two girls galloped down the path, shouted insults and breathless giggles interspersed with shoves and pokes whenever one caught up with the other.

 

It all came to an abrupt halt when Nora slammed full force into another figure on the path. For half a moment she thought she might manage to regain her balance, but Yang who was just behind her crashed into them both and all three went down into a pile on the ground.

 

“Ooof,”came a muffled voice from the bottom of the mound. “You two are heavy!”

 

Nora carefully pushed up as much as she could, trying to lever her and Yang’s weight off their hapless victim, “We’re so sorry! We weren’t watching where we were going!”

 

“Also, we’re not heavy,” Yang hopped up easily and lifted Nora off the other. “I can pick this one up with one hand!”

 

“Clearly.” Nora looked down into laughing blue eyes. “Good thing you’re both cute, or I might be mad. As it is, you can knock me down again any time!”

 

“Oh, it’s just Neptune,” Yang remarked dryly as she set Nora on her feet. “Never mind, I’m not that sorry.”

 

“Hey! Are you going to at least help me up?” Neptune held out a hand towards Yang from where he lay on the ground.

 

“Nah, you’re a big boy. You can handle standing up.” Yang rolled her eyes and continued on her way. Nora giggled, then grabbed Neptune’s hand.

 

“Here, I’ll help you up!”

 

“Are you sure you can lif…,” Neptune started to protest, but abruptly broke off as Nora easily tugged him back to his feet.

 

“Yup, no problem! You’re not even wearing armor! Ugh, you should have seen the time I had to carry Jaune for a whole day because he twisted his ankle in between villages. You wouldn’t know it to look at him, but he weighs a TON!” Nora groaned dramatically. “And he was so embarrassed! He kept asking me to let Ren carry him instead. Hah! Ren has enough trouble carrying himself around. He had to carry two back packs that day and I thought he was going sink into the ground he was moping so hard.”

 

“What was Ruby doing during all of this?” Neptune wondered with a laugh.

 

“Taking pictures! She’s the worst about that.” Nora paused. “Or the best depending on your point of view. I’m pretty sure we have enough blackmail material to keep the boys behaving for at least the next five years or so!”

 

Neptune dusted himself off and he and Nora started down the path after Yang.

 

“I’m glad I ran into you,” he remarked as they continued to trail after the other girl.

 

“How come?” Nora asked curiously.

 

“I was hoping I could convince you to come to dinner with me tonight,” Neptune replied, raising his hand to scratch the back of his head. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

 

Nora drew her eyebrows together and glanced sideways at her companion. “Um, sure, sounds good. What did you have in mind?”

 

“Ramen? There’s a pretty decent stand not to far from the inn.”

 

“Oh! Sure! Yang loves ramen!” Nora agreed happily.

 

“Yeah… um, I was really hoping it could be just… the two of us?” Neptune’s voice was hesitant.

 

“I guess that’s okay…,” Nora wasn’t sure what to make of Neptune’s request. She had enjoyed talking to him earlier, but the two of them had never really spent any time alone, even while he and the rest of SSSN were visiting Beacon. She considered them friends, but he had spent far more time with Ren than with her.

 

“Great! I’ll meet you around seven?” Neptune looked relieved at her reply.

 

“Yeah, okay - seven.”

 

“See you then!” Raising a hand in a quick good bye, Neptune hurried off in the other direction from the inn as they reached the main road. “I have to meet Sage and Scarlet for lunch! I’ll see you tonight!”

 

Nora watched him for a few moments feeling rather confused by the whole exchange. After a moment she turned to face Yang who was watching her intently.

 

“What was that all about?” Yang inquired.

 

“I’m not really sure,” Nora admitted. “I guess I’ll find out tonight! For now, let’s go find some crepes!”

 

***

 

Ren discovered that the relative silence in the library was actually distracting. It was unusual to be there without Nora - the sounds she made were the normal soundtrack of his life. It wasn’t that she couldn’t be quiet – she was perfectly capable of keeping her voice down - but she was never silent. Typically when studying, he did so accompanied by the soft sound of her snores (if she fell asleep), or her low, tuneless humming as she worked through her own reading and homework. Sometimes it was to the sound of soft giggles as she tried to construct fantastical structures out of whatever debris she found in the depths of her backpack, and barely contained laughter when they inevitably collapsed.

 

Even on those rare occasions when he went to the library without Nora, his other friends were usually around lending their own sounds to the general hush. Blake made a rumbling noise, almost like a purr, when she was enjoying a book. They had been frequent companions among the dusty shelves on days their respective partners decided to opt for more physical activities than studying. Other times, it was Jaune in the background – moaning and muttering as he tried to make sense of an assignment for the fourth or fiftieth time – often with Pyrrha’s soft voice chiming in to help explain a concept or reassure him he was doing well. Ren hadn’t even even found the louder days when team RWBY brought in board games or argued over who would win in a Versus Battle to be particularly annoying.  

 

However now, surrounded by nothing except the distant sound of pages being turned periodically by the two others seated in the library, he was unable to concentrate – listening far too hard for expected noises that were missing. After rereading the same page for the seventh time, he gathered up a few of the more promising books and went to speak with the librarian.

****

Several minutes later after showing his Beacon student ID card and dropping Neptune’s name (he’d started with Sun’s, rapidly back tracking when the librarian had begun to frown), he was on his way out of the library with a promise to bring the books back the following day. It was a lovely day outside and hopefully the fresh air and background noise of the city would help him focus.

****

A short walk later, Ren had located a small courtyard surrounded by trees on one side and small stalls selling various food items on the other. In the center, tables with attached chairs were scattered about. Only a few were occupied as many of the students had completed their tests and classes for the term and retreated from Haven’s campus. However, a few of the tables were occupied by small groups or single students, usually surrounded by open books, stacks of papers, drinks, and food as they frantically tried to cram both their brains and stomachs before their final exams.

****

Ren easily found an unoccupied table under the shade of a tree and once he’d carefully checked the tree for birds and the table for bird waste, he determined it was safe and set down the books he was carrying. After pondering for a moment, he decided that no one was very likely to steal some old books on fairy tales (they were all stamped and marked for the Vale library anyway), and wandered over to see what types of food were available at the stands.

****

One stall was selling a variety of dumplings filled with either meat, cheese, vegetables, or cooked fruit. He remembered Pyrrha had once served something similar when it was her turn to make dinner which made sense since they were in Mistral and she had been Mistrali. Another offered fried noodles tossed with a choice of toppings. Sandwiches and soups were available at a third stall, and rice balls and skewered vegetables at a fourth. Two final locations offered up drinks and sweets of various types. He quickly decided on a cup of soup and a half sandwich before snagging a drink and paying for his choices. As he headed back towards his table, he was brought up short by two hands slipping over his eyes.

****

“Guess who!” an excited voice trilled in his ear and he sighed.

****

“I’d never believe you and Yang are related,” Ren said dryly. “She did the same thing to me earlier. Hi Ruby.”

****

“Awwww, man,” Ruby pouted, dropping her hands. “No fair. She stole my idea!”

****

“I think you stole her idea since she thought of it first,” Ren observed. “Also, I just saw you yesterday - and you still sound like you, so it wasn’t going to be hard to guess anyway. Maybe you should try to disguise your voice next time.”

****

“Hey, Ren,” Jaune waved slightly as he came up beside Ruby. “Ruby and I thought we’d stop and grab some food on our way back from the airships and then we saw you so we came over. Where’s Nora?” Jaune craned his head around as if looking harder would make Ren’s partner appear from thin air.

****

“She and Yang are sparring,” Ren replied. “I have a table just over there if you want to get food and join me.”

****

“Sounds like a plan!” Ruby chirped. “Let’s go, Jaune - you lost the bet, so you’re paying for lunch!”

****

“Oh c’mon, Ruby!” Jaune groaned, “I only have like 20 lien left!”

****

“Well, I guess you’re going to have no lien after this!” Ruby exclaimed happily. “I’m hungry and… OH ARE THOSE COOKIES?” Ruby skipped towards the snack booth, Jaune trailing sadly along behind her.

****

Ren shook his head and watched them for a moment before continuing on to the table. Sitting down, he looked at the books stacked in front of him pensively before pushing them to the side and spreading out his lunch. It wasn’t likely he was going to make any progress for awhile with Ruby and Jaune joining him.

****

Ren carefully unwrapped the sandwich and folded the trash to throw away later. He shuffled his utensils around and pulled the top off his soup. The food looked good, but he found he wasn’t particularly hungry. He poked his spoon in and slowly swirled it around, trying to remind himself he needed to eat, no matter the knots his stomach had been tying itself into all day.

****

“I can’t believe you only let me buy two cookies,” Ruby flopped down on the seat across from Ren. He let go of his spoon with a sense of relief and watched as Jaune sat down more slowly, a loaded tray in his hands with what looked to be both his and Ruby’s lunch and drinks.

****

“I told you I only had 20 lien!” Jaune exclaimed. “And you wanted those rice balls and the dumplings too!”

****

“Yeah…” Ruby laughed. “Okay, I guess you have a point. But it all looked so good!”

****

Ren smiled to himself as Ruby and Jaune continued to banter back and forth over their food. It was good to see them relaxed, the last few months had been stressful and without many opportunities to laugh and joke. Half listening to their discussion, he let his thoughts wander back to that morning, trying to sort out why Nora had been behaving so oddly, but failing to make any sense of what had happened. Was she interested in Neptune? Was she mad at Ren? What could he have possibly done to upset her while he was asleep? Was she just reacting to Yang being there…

****

“Ren?” Jaune’s voice sounded concerned and Ren pulled himself back to the conversation with a jolt. “Are you okay?”

****

“Oh, yeah, sorry. I was just kind of dozing. I … didn’t sleep very well. Some birds woke me up.” Ren made a face.

****

“You really don’t like birds,” Ruby looked disappointed. “They’re so cool though! You should see Uncle Qrow when he turns into a bird! He’s like ‘woosh’ and ‘swoop’ and ‘caw, caw mother fmpghdhd…’” Ruby’s voice trailed off into incoherent mumbling as Jaune clamped a hand over her mouth.

****

“Haha, now Ruby, we’ve talked about repeating what Qrow says,” Jaune’s voice had gone slightly higher in pitch as he tried to hush the brunette. “Especially in public.”

****

Ruby muttered something that Jaune must have taken for agreement as he lifted his hand. “Sorry, Jaune! I forgot. But you won’t even tell me what that word means!”

****

Jaune glanced away nervously, then locked eyes with Ren who shook his head vigorously. “Um, maybe ask Yang,” Jaune suggested refusing to look at Ruby.

****

“Yeah…. Maybe she’ll tell me,” Ruby agreed. “You guys are so lame. Anyway, what’ve you been up to today, Ren? Were you excited to see Yang?” Ruby bounced on her seat a bit, then stuffed a cookie in her mouth. “Ef canph beliph sheth herth. Imph tho ecthithited.” Jaune and Ren exchanged a look as Ruby chugged some milk.

****

“It’s good to see Yang again,” Ren resisted the urge to laugh at Ruby’s enthusiasm for the cookies and milk. “Nora seemed happy to see her as well. I went to the library for some books Qrow asked me to look get.” He gestured to the stack of books now on the far side of the table. “He was hoping we might be able to find a hint of where the Spring Maiden’s been hiding.”

****

“Sounds boring,” Ruby finished off the last cookie and reluctantly turned to her other food. “Isn’t it more likely that Professor Lionheart would know something since Mercury and the others were pretending to be his students?”

****

“It’s a long shot,” Ren acknowledged, “but Qrow thought it was worth looking into just in case.”

****

Jaune nodded thoughtfully, “Yeah, I guess we have to try whatever we can.”

****

“Did you and Ruby find out anything interesting at the airship docks?” Ren asked as he slowly swirled his soup with his spoon. He absently hoped his friends wouldn’t noticed he was fidgeting with his lunch rather than actually eating it.

****

“Not really,” Jaune shrugged. “Most of the traffic today was from inside of Mistral. They mentioned Grimm activity is a bit higher than normal, but that’s fairly expected given how chaotic things have been the last few months.”

****

“There’s supposed to be a ship coming from Atlas in the next few days,” Ruby added. “If we can manage to catch that one when it’s here, maybe they’ll have more news. Someone might have heard something about Weiss. I hope she’s okay.”

****

The reminder of another missing companion silenced them all for a time and they quietly concentrated on eating, or pretending to eat in Ren’s case. Finally Ruby bounced to her feet and dusted off her skirt with exaggerated movements.

 

“Well, I’m gonna go try to find Yang! She and Nora should be done sparring by now probably.” Ruby’s voice held a slight edge of forced cheer, but neither Ren or Jaune commented on it. “Jaune, are you coming back with me?”

****

“Nah, you go on ahead,” Jaune demurred. “I’m not quite done eating and maybe I can help Ren out with these books he needs to go through.”

****

“Okay! I’ll see you guys later then!” Ruby raised her hand and flashed them both a smile, then turned away, bouncing down the road leading back towards the inn while humming slightly off key.

****

Jaune turned to Ren and fixed him with a serious look. “What’s wrong, Ren? And don’t try to tell me everything’s fine. I’ve spent enough time with you now to know the difference between ‘Ren is always quiet’ and ‘Ren is quieter than normal because he’s upset.’”

****

“No one told me having more friends meant they’d pry into my life even if I didn’t want them to,” Ren huffed out, torn between amusement and annoyance as he often was by Jaune. The other boy had referred to them as brothers on more than one occasion and while Ren didn’t have a sibling, he thought this might indeed be what it was like.

****

“Oh no one tells you that part about friends!” Jaune laughed. “It’s like a hidden bonus level. They lure you in with the promise of fun and frivolity, then *BAM* - they’re prying their way into your private thoughts like a… um… something that really likes to pry things open.” Jaune paused. “I was thinking of those things that open clams and eat them? But I don’t remember what they’re called…” He trailed off and shrugged. “Anyway, what’s bothering you?”

****

Ren chuckled a little, “I think you mean starfish.”

****

Jaune smacked a hand flat on the table in excitement. “Yes! Starfish! But don’t think you’re getting out of this that easily!”

****

“Nothing’s ever easy with you, Jaune,” Ren agreed, fighting to keep a smirk off his face.

****

“Exactly. Wait....” Jaune narrowed his eyes at his friend. “Why are you like this, Ren? It’s Nora, isn’t it? She’s a bad influence. You used to be so nice.”

****

“No, you just didn’t know me very well yet. But, you’re not wrong.”

****

“Good, I’m glad you admit it! Um, not wrong about what?” Jaune looked triumphant for a moment, but it rapidly gave way to confusion.

****

Ren pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed tiredly. “I woke up in a good mood this morning, birds aside, but Nora was acting… strange. I don’t know if anything is actually wrong, but I can’t stop thinking about it. Usually I can tell what Nora’s thinking, but this time, I just don’t know.”

****

“Well…” Jaune began slowly, obviously thinking hard about his words. “Nora always acts a little bit strange, so I’m not sure I’d notice if she was acting more strange. I mean, unless she turned down syrup or something. Then you should probably get her to the hospital, stat.”

 

“No, it’s nothing like that.”

****

Jaune leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Ren, I’m going to share a very important secret with you. It’s a way of finding out something when you can’t tell what the other person’s thinking by just watching them. It can be hard, but it works pretty well and I’m pretty sure you can learn how to do it.”

****

Ren felt a slight surge of excitement. This sounded exactly like what he needed. “What is it?”

****

“You can,” Jaune paused, and Ren leaned closer. “Talk to them. It works wonders. Highly encouraged.”

****

Ren leaned back in his seat and rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Jaune. I think I could have figured that out on my own.”

****

Jaune laughed, “I don’t know, Ren. Talking isn’t your default setting.” Jaune settled back himself, face falling into more solemn lines. “All joking aside though, you should talk to her. Communication’s important and sometimes you don’t get a chance to talk through misunderstandings later. I’d...I’d give almost anything to be able to go back and just….” his voice trailed off. Ren reached across the table and squeezed his friend’s hand in sympathy.

****

Jaune blinked rapidly for a moment before clasping Ren’s hand in return. “Just talk to her, Ren. Find out what’s wrong and work it out with her. You know you guys’ll figure it out.”

****

“You’re right. Thanks, Jaune.” Ren let go of Jaune and picked up his sandwich, appetite slightly restored.

****

“Glad I could help. Now, you don’t really need me to help you go through books, do you?” Jaune frowned at the stack with a small degree of worry. “You know I’m not that great at research.”

****

Ren slowly chewed and swallowed his bite, looking up with a thoughtful expression. “Well, these are fairy tales. They probably have pictures so they’re about at your level….”

****

“Hey!”

****

“No, it’s fine. I’ve got this under control, you can go do something else.” Ren smiled slightly as Jaune slumped in relief.

****

“Thanks, Ren! Okay, well, I guess I’ll go try to catch up to Ruby. Who knows what kind of trouble she’ll cause if we leave her unsupervised too long.”

****

“That would probably be for the best, yes.”

****

Jaune hopped up and gathered his trash. “See you later!”

****

Ren watched Jaune hurry away for a moment before turning back to his food. Setting his more troubled thoughts purposefully to the side, he took the first book on the stack and opened the cover. If he put his mind to it, he could probably get through these before dinner, then he’d be free to spend some time trying to solve the more puzzling mystery of why Nora was behaving so oddly.

 

  
  



End file.
